Crowdfunding: What Platform Should You Go With?

Welcome to the first post in our series all about crowdfunding, where we break down the basics, give you tips and tricks, share resources and help you create the best crowdfunding campaign possible.

Chances are, if you’re a micro-budget filmmaker, you’ve had your Facebook walls covered in fundraising campaigns by all your friends. If you’re a really good friend (or you have a spare five minutes in the day), you might have even clicked on the link. And you know what, if your the best-est friend in the whole wide world, then you’ve probably actually read the whole campaign, and possibly even donated.

We’re ashamed to admit, that in the past we have side tracked, darted and skimmed through far too many of our friends online campaigns. This is not something we’re proud of, especially given that we’re big believers and supporters of the #SupportIndieFilm campaign. So why have we avoided some of our friends fundraising campaigns, as if we were avoiding the plague?

Simple. Because they didn’t grab our attention. With so many pictures, articles and meme of funny cats on the interweb (they’re amazing, aren’t they?!) we just don’t get excited by a simple fundraising campaign. Far too little of them make us stop from scrolling down our feeds, saying “Hey, this is something I want to spend five minute on”. It’s unfortunate, but true.

Now really, we’re getting better at this, but we’re currently only two people out of, well, billions worldwide. So how on earth do you create a campaign that’ll not only get people to stop and stare, but also get them to contribute and share (hey, that rhymed!)?

Well that is what we hope to share with you over these next four weeks!

Whilst pulling from our own experiences, we have also been researching, reading, watching, scouring, interviewing, stalking, hounding, chasing, kidnapping and ransoming, all to help filmmakers (and us we might add), to create the best crowdfunding campaign possible. (Side Note: We are proud to say we have put our Kidnapping days behind us. Our stalking days however?… just look out your window!).

Today we’re going to quickly breakdown some of, what we think, are the best fundraising platforms for your production.

With so many out there it can be a little tricky knowing where to start; it can even be a totally daunting, but we’ve broken down what we think are currently the top three (don’t fret, we’ll break down the rest later on!).

Summary: One of the first big ones, having been around on the crowdfunding scene since April 2009. They have seen a whopping 11 million people back projects, had $2.5 billion pledged and has had 110,165 projects successfully funded.

Who can use them: As long as you’re over 18 and are based in one of the following countries, you can totally become a kickass Kickstarter; US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Denmark, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland and Luxembourg, plus more to come we’re sure.

Possible drawbacks: They run by an all-or-nothing philosophy. Meaning, you don’t make your goal, you don’t get the funds.

Want to know more? We’ve broken Kickstarter down further here, letting you know in our opinion on what’s unique about them, what else they offer and what we recommend if you think Kickstarter’s for you.

Summary: A favorite among filmmakers and with good reason. Indiegogo not only hails a whopping $950M+ of total funds raised, but they also offer flexible funding, meaning no matter if you hit your goal or not, you get to keep the money (for fee of course). Aside the usual, Indiegogo also offers its campaigners an Essential guide to crowdfunding, a totally useful and worth while resource for all your campaigning needs.

Who can use them: Indiegogo claims to be reachable in almost any country, however you must be raising money in the following currencies – USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, AUD

Possible Drawbacks: The flexible funding option can sometimes put potential backers off, as it may appear that you just want “whatever you can get” and that you haven’t clearly broken down your budget.

Want to know more? We’ve broken Indiegogo down further right here, letting you know, in our opinion, what’s unique about them, what else they offer, and what we recommend you use.

Summary:Seed & Spark might be our new favorite thing. And why is that? Because its a crowdfunding platform, set up by filmmakers, for filmmakers! Finally!! But not only that, its also a distribution platform.

Having launched in 2012 by founder Emily Best, along with Caroline Von Kuhnand Liam Brady, Seed & Spark isn’t like other crowdfunding platforms; as in it runs slightly differently. (To find out how, check out our “Seed & Spark” breakdown post here). In a nut shell, they aim to not only help the filmmakers that are crowdfunding, but also the people who help contribute to them. Its a two way street, and we dig that!

Who can use them: As long as you have a US bank account and a SSN (or EIN), oh and you’re making a film (duh!), then Seed&Spark is for you!

Possible Drawbacks: You must have 80% of your campaign goal reached in order to be “Greenlit” and to get your money. And given its niche is filmmakers, it could narrow down your potential donators, compared to other platforms.

Want to know more? We’ve broken Seed&Spark down further right here, letting you know, in our opinion, what’s unique about them, what else they offer and what we recommend you do.

We’re excited to share our Crowdfunding Series with you, and encourage you to totally do your own homework. Are you thinking about starting a crowdfunding campaign? Or do you have one going on right now? Let us know in a comment bellow and we’ll totally follow it – we may even share it!

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About The Author

The Dirty Filmmaker is an online resource centre for any micro-budget and no-budget filmmakers. We aim to aid and inspire these creatives while they design their next ingenious production, helping them reach the next step on the entertainment career ladder.